Thanks for the additional pieces of intereresting information! About capoeira being a hierarchy but meant to question power structures…I think they’re kind of two different things. Like you said, capoeira is a hierarchy more so now than before, I think, with the introduction of cordas and the elevation of mestres from “teachers” to “masters”. From what you said, I think you might also find this post interesting, if you haven’t already seen it! => What is the Role of a Capoeira Mestre?

However, capoeira seems very much about subverting power structures, as that was the whole drive behind its creation/development, in the first place! That is, while capoeira might have some structure in itself, nearly anything that involves large groups of people probably has some type of structure for it to function, but in the bigger picture, capoeira came out of questioning (to put it mildly) the overall power structures running society, that of caucasian power over Africans, landowners over “slaves”, etc.

Speaking of which: More on the Freire-Capoeira connection [1]! It seems that Roberto Freire, a devoted anarchist and anti-psychiatrist has invented a form of therapy called “Soma” [2], which incorporates capoeira angola as an integral part (as well as theatre of the oppressed etc.). The idea seems to be along the lines of “free the body–free the mind”, and the goal is to get into a habit of questioning prevalent power structures and following one’s own lead [7].

The latter point is certainly something which I can relate to in capoeira–in a good capoeira game the inhibitions vanish–but the first one might seem a little curious. After all, isn’t capoeira very hierarchical?

I would say that nowadays it mostly is, but I don’t suppose it has always been so. The academic capoeira has its origins in the 30s after all, before this it was learned in a completely different way, and the bond between mestre and pupil was in all probability more of a personal one than an institutionalized structure of modern academies.

Still, in documentary about Soma by Nick Cooper [3] several prominent (in the sense that I recognize them) capoeiristas seem to be in favour of, if not precisely Freires ideas, then at least the anarchist ideals that gave them birth. There is even an anarchist capoeira federation [4], which from what I can see appears well respected, and has released several CDs among other things.

The capoeira world is indeed large and wondrous–not to mention surprising!

Feliz ano novo!

/Skyman (“Buddha”)
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[1]: This is actually a pun on [5]…
[2]: This name is curious, since Soma is the drug used to control the people in Huxley’s Brave New World. I don’t know where he got it from, but at least that association hardly seems fitting for a libertarian therapy But then again perhaps it is an intentional irony.
[3]: http://www.somadocumentary.com/
[4]: FACA, http://f-a-c-a.vilabol.uol.com.br/ ,the founder (?) of which has written an interesting article that is available over at Capoeira Connection [5].
[5]: http://www.capoeira-connection.com/main/downloads/Which_Is_Yours.pdf [6]
[6]: Yes, I like making footnotes…
[7]: The idea that capoeira changes the practitioner profoundly is also put forth by Nestor in his books, and by Greg Downey in his (if I recall correctly).

(Just kidding).

Well done.:-)

And I ended up doing fine on the paper, thanks!

To back up your point about Artaud, I quote, “‘theatre of cruelty’ means a theatre difficult and cruel for myself first of all.” Each player must be their own toughest opponent, and it’s this sort of introspective taking-stock (“can I take this guy down?”) means becoming acutely aware of one’s own abilities. The cruelty that Artaud talks about strips away the “falsehood and illusion” of the times and forces the actors and the audience to put themselves in “communication with pure forces.” Artaud also says, “the theatre is the only place in the world where a gesture, once made, can never be made the same way twice.” Might this not also apply to the roda? This seems to tie in nicely with my understanding of the roda as a site of dynamic public spectacle.

Adding to your analysis of Brecht, the other crucial point about Brechtian epic theatre is that it should stir the audience to action, forcing them to make decisions, ask questions, bring themselves to the point of recognition. So it’s not just that you’re supposed to distance yourself in order to better observe, but that those observations should then move you to respond to what you see and then act upon those responses. Therefore, the point of attentiveness to the roda is to actually change your own game, not just to take notes on things you ought to do/not do. That is, unless you change your own game, observations aren’t of much use and the “theatre” has failed.

I think what you’re uncannily (ha!) sensing in Graver is actually a reference to Merleau-Ponty, who “considered the body ‘our general medium for having a world’” (Garner 28). Merleau-Ponty’s argument, which Garner discusses extensively, is that the perceiving body is the means through which we experience the world (focusing on the sensual corporeality of the body as opposed to the disembodied intellect) and also the way to tie ourselves to the materiality of the exterior world.

Good luck with the paper!

In this context it might be interesting to mention Theatre of the Oppressed [1], since both its originator, Augusto Boal, and Roberto Freire, who’s writings on the Pedagogy of the Oppressed inspired Boal, are both Brazilian.

Since this is really not my field I’m not sure whether or not the link isn’t just superficial, but some people seem to have made the connection. Searching the Web for capoeira together with Roberto Freire, for instance, reveals that Freire had an interest in Capoeira Angola, and I guess – admittedly based on very meagre knowledge of the subject (so maybe I should really just keep my fingers of the keyboard) – that a comparison of the roda to the Theatre of the Opressed might be interesting.

Feliz aniversario!

/Skyman

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[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Oppressed